Technologies

Opportunity:

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan have developed a new method to enhance immunoprotective function in poultry. This method consists of combining oligodeoxynucleotides containing CpG-motifs (CpG-ODN) with lipid-based formulations and/or carbon nanotubes.

Background:

The Poultry Site lists about 140 avian infectious diseases. Chicken mortality rate ranges from 5- 20% on different farms. Immunosupression could be triggered not only by avian pathogens but also by stress and poor health management practices on the farm. The negative impact of immunosupression makes it difficult for the poultry industry to process chickens due to the related health problems. It becomes very important to maintain immune status of chickens especially neonatal birds at resonable costs. Practice of prophylactic use of antibiotics, while commonplace, is controversial because it encourages the emergence of antibiotic resistant microbes, and may result in food allergies and soil or water contamination via fecal excretion of antibiotics in poultry manure applied to the land. The emergence and rising spread of resistant bacteria are rendering current antibiotics progressively less useful. Thus, there is pressure to restrict the use of antibiotics in agriculture and to implement alternative strategies for disease control. This has become increasingly important due to a number of food safety and human health issues. In addition to the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria, the issue of drug residues in meat products is important, both for domestic and international trade. For these reasons, the animal production industry is seeking to reduce the use of therapeutic agents by developing effective immunotherapeutic agents.